SUMMARY:
Starting January 1, 2013, this act requires all health care institutions caring for newborn infants to test them for critical congenital heart disease, unless, as allowed by law, their parents object on religious grounds.
It requires the testing to be done as soon as medically appropriate.
As with existing law that requires these institutions to test newborn infants for cystic fibrosis and severe combined immunodeficiency disease, the test for critical congenital heart disease is in addition to the state's newborn screening program for genetic and metabolic disorders.
That program, in addition to screening, directs parents of identified infants to counseling and treatment.